The last appearance of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was made in an audio recording in September.

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi making what would have been his first public appearance, at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video. (Reuters File Photo)

A Hezbollah-run news outlet said on Friday that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported present in the Syrian town of Albu Kamal during the Syrian army and its allies’ operation to clear it.

The report did not say if Baghdadi was captured in the town, which the Syrian army and its allies said they had captured this week.